Howards walked up to the small crowd of people and stood a few feet away from the "The Brain" and watched. He then decided he had to say something. He said: "I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible." According to Howards that is all he said. And that was done peacefully. He then walked away with his son.

About ten minutes later he was approached by government agent Virgil Reichle, Jr. who asked him why he "assaulted" the vice president. To say the least Howards was shocked. Since when did saying you disagree with someone amount to assualt? But the agent slapped handcuffs on the man, in front of his son, and carted him off to jail.

There is the First Amendment but this White House has shown utter contempt to the entire Constitution so one clause doesn't worry them. The White House is occupied by thugs. Poor Reagan and Goldwater, this is what those vile neocons and theocons have done to their tradition. No wonder Arizona is cooler than usually. Barry is spinning in his grave. And those tremors in California are Reagan trying to get out to scream: "This is not what I meant."

Of course the matter never went to court as the District Attorneys Office quickly dropped the charges. But it wasn't meant to go to court. It was meant to punish a man for speaking out against Cheney. Not only are these people thugs in the full sense of the word but they are very petty thugs as well. Howards should count himself lucky. They invaded Iraq over a lot less than this. He should be glad they didn't "liberate" him right into the grave.